


Traditional

by kira_khaleesi



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, HEA, Redeemed Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23199568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kira_khaleesi/pseuds/kira_khaleesi
Summary: “Ben manages to convince Rey that so many things are traditionally alderaanian and she doesn't think to question him on this until he earnestly tells her that ___________ is traditional”
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 22
Kudos: 130





	Traditional

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TourmalineGreen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TourmalineGreen/gifts).



> based on a tweet, hope you enjoy

“Tell me about your home.” Rey had whispered into his chest one night. After years of sleeping alone, he thought it would be strange to have someone else in his bed, but he slept better with Rey than he had his entire life. 

After defecting - and a lengthy interrogation process at the hands of Resistance leadership, newly appointed General Rose Tico had shown them to Ben to his quarters without informing either of them in advance that he and Rey would be sharing. Ben had stammered, eternally grateful that the tips of his ears were covered by his long hair as they’d surely be bright red, and tried to awkwardly respond. 

Rey had just smiled and said thanks, and ushered him into the room. 

Still blushing, Ben words had spilled out of his mouth about how he was sorry if he gave her friends the wrong impression and he had no expectations from her-

-Rey had grabbed him by the shirt and crushed her lips to his. 

And that had been that. 

Now, with Palpatine defeated and the galaxy on the mend, they lie together and Rey asks him to tell her about her home. 

He is quiet for a minute, trying to comb his memories for the last place that actually felt like home to him. None of the ships he lived on during his time with the First Order were his home, the temple where Luke tried to kill him was certainly not home. 

Chandrila, maybe.

And so he tells Rey about the home he grew up in. He shares memories, some fond and some less so. She is happy to listen to all of it. When he is finished, Rey is quiet. He can feel the unease rolling off her in waves. 

“Rey?”

She sighs, shifting against him. 

“When I was...when I was waiting for my family on Jakku, I always imagined that we would have these traditions. Traditions from our home-world, rituals that were special and had meaning. I don’t have any of that.”

Ben pulls her tighter to his chest, and she snuggles into him before continuing.

“Do you have traditions?”

And that’s how it started. The woman he loved asked him a question and he scrambled to come up with an answer. Turns out he had slightly misunderstood what she was asking, but rather than come clean he went with it. 

Rey had wanted to know about traditional practices as in, from his family’s homeworld. She was interested in Alderaanian traditions, not informal rituals the Organa-Solo family practiced. Luckily, Rey was eager to believe that breakfast in bed, premarital sex, skinny dipping, minimalistic birthday celebrations, and drinking caf with lots of sugar and milk, and many, many more behaviours were all traditions from his mother’s homeworld. 

Naturally, this eventually bites him in the ass. 

Two years later, after having travelled the galaxy together and helped heal the damage caused by the war, it is the eve of their wedding. Rey is brushing her hair, and Ben walks over to stand beside her. 

“May I braid your hair tomorrow?”

Rey frowns. “Rose was going to do it, I wanted to surprise you.”

Pulling her back flush against his chest, he whispers against her ear. “There’s a special braid I wanted to do, though. It’s a traditional wedding braid, from Alderaan.”

Turning to face him, Rey scoffs. “A traditional hairdo? For weddings? It’s just hair Ben. Does that mean that there are Alderaanian hairdos for different occasions.”

“Not just hairdos, Rey, braids. And yes, there are all sorts of traditional braids.”

Her eyes narrow. “No disrespect to your mother but Alderaan seems like a bizarre place.” Rey continues by rattling off the various ‘traditions’ Ben has taught her over their time together.

Ben sighs, running a hand over his face. “Rey I have to...I have to be honest, those things are not Alderaanian.”

“What?” Her face falls.

“All those things you just listed, everything...to be honest I don’t remember much of Alderaanian customs - except for the braids - and so-”

“-so what, Ben? Are all these so called traditions are just made up? Just banthashit?”

As she steps away from him, he is quick to follow. He will always follow her. 

“No, Rey, they’re not banthashit.”

Tears threaten to spill over her cheeks. “But you just said that they’re not from Alderaan, they’re just random activities that we-”

“-They’re not random.” He steps forward to cradle her face in his hands, “They’re not random, Rey. They’re _ours_. Those are traditions that we have made. They don’t belong to Alderaan. They belong to us.”

At that, Rey wraps her arms around his torso in a vice-grip he will never tire of. Her cheek to his chest and his arms holding her tight, Ben presses a kiss to the top of her head. 

“I love you, Ben.”

Ever his father’s son, he cannot resist a quip. “Well that’s good, because we are getting married tomorrow.”

She gives him a soft smile.

In the morning, he braids her hair.


End file.
